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Tanzania

 
Dictionary: Tan·za·ni·a   (tăn'zə-nē'ə) pronunciation
Tanzania
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Tanzania
(Mapping Specialists, Ltd.)

A country of east-central Africa on the Indian Ocean. Inhabited since prehistoric times and settled by Bantu peoples by the tenth century, most of the region became a German protectorate in 1891 and passed to the British in 1920 as Tanganyika. Zanzibar, a narrow strip along the coast, was a British protectorate after 1890. Tanganyika achieved independence in 1961 and joined with Zanzibar in 1964 to form Tanzania. Dar es Salaam is the capital (until 2005) and the largest city; Dodoma is the designated capital. Population: 39,400,000.

Tanzanian Tan·za'ni·an adj. & n.

 

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Crater rim of Kilimanjaro at dawn.
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Crater rim of Kilimanjaro at dawn. (credit: Gerald Cubitt)
Country, eastern Africa. It is mostly on the African mainland but also includes the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia in the Indian Ocean. Population (2008 est.): 40,213,000. Capital: Dar es Salaam; Dodoma, designated. There are more than 120 identifiable ethnic groups; the largest, the Sukuma, are about one-tenth of the population. Languages: Swahili, English (both official). Religions: Christianity (Protestant, Roman Catholic), Islam (mainly Sunni), traditional beliefs. Currency: Tanzanian shilling. Although most of Tanzania consists of plains and plateaus, it has some spectacular relief features, including Kilimanjaro and Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano. All or portions of Lakes Nyasa, Tanganyika, Victoria, and Rukwa lie within Tanzania, as do the headwaters of the Nile, Congo, and Zambezi rivers. Serengeti National Park is the most famous of its extensive game reserves. Important mineral deposits include gold, diamonds, gemstones, coal, and natural gas. The economy is based largely on agriculture; major crops include cotton, coffee, corn, rice, cloves, sisal, cashews, and tobacco. Industries include food processing, textiles, cement, and brewing. Tanzania is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. Inhabited from the 1st millennium BCE, it was occupied by Arab and Indian traders and Bantu-speaking peoples by the 10th century CE. The Portuguese gained control of the coastline in the late 15th century, but they were driven out by the Arabs of Oman and Zanzibar in the late 18th century. German colonists entered the area in the 1880s, and in 1891 the Germans declared the region a protectorate as part of German East Africa. During World War I, Britain captured the German holdings, which became a British mandate (1920) under the name Tanganyika. Britain retained control of the region after World War II when it became a UN trust territory. Tanganyika gained independence in 1961 and became a republic in 1962. In 1964 it united with Zanzibar, later taking the name Tanzania, and was led by Pres. Julius Nyerere until 1985. The country subsequently experienced both political and economic struggles; it held its first multiparty elections in 1995.

For more information on Tanzania, visit Britannica.com.

In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Tanzanian Shilling.

Investopedia Says:
The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion.


British History: Tanzania
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Formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Previously a German dependency, Tanganyika became a British mandated territory after the First World War. Having few natural resources, it proved unattractive to white settlers. This, together with the absence of any dominant ethnic group with aspirations to hegemony, meant that the country developed peacefully. Its progress towards independence in 1961 was equally without serious incident. The following year Tanganyika became a republic, and in 1964 joined with Zanzibar to become Tanzania.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Tanzania
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Tanzania (tăn'zənē'ə, -zăn'ēə, Swahili tänzänē'ä), officially United Republic of Tanzania, republic (2005 est. pop. 36,766,000), 364,898 sq mi (945,087 sq km), E Africa, formed in 1964 by the union of the republics of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. For a description of the island of Zanzibar, and its history until 1964, see Zanzibar. Other islands include Pemba and Mafia as well as several smaller islands. Mainland Tanzania is bordered on the south by Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia; on the west by Congo (Kinshasa), Burundi, and Rwanda; on the north by Uganda and Kenya; and on the east by the Indian Ocean. Lake Nyasa forms part of the southern boundary, Lake Tanganyika part of the western boundary, and Lake Victoria part of the northern boundary. Dar-es-Salaam is the former capital and largest city of the republic. The Tanzanian legislature moved to the new capital of Dodoma in 1996, but many government offices still remain in Dar-es-Salaam.

Land and People

Mainland Tanzania falls into three major geographical zones-a narrow lowland coastal strip along the Indian Ocean; a vast interior plateau; and a number of scattered mountainous regions. The coastal zone (10-40 mi/16-60 km wide) receives considerable rainfall and has much fertile soil. The plateau (average elevation: 3,500-4,500 ft/1,070-1,370 m) extends over most of the interior and is cut in two places by branches of the Great Rift Valley. The western branch contains Lake Tanganyika and the eastern branch runs through central Tanzania about 500 ft (150 m) below the level of the plateau; the two branches merge just north of Lake Nyasa. The plateau receives little rainfall, but in most parts there is enough to support agriculture.

The Serengeti National Park, one of the country's several wildlife reserves, is east of Lake Victoria, and Lake Rukwa is in the southwest. The mountainous regions include Mt. Meru (14,979 ft/4,566 m) and Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft/5,895 m, the highest point in Africa) in the northeast; the Usambara, Nguru, and Uluguru mts. in the east; the Livingstone Mts. and the Kipengere Range near Lake Nyasa in the south; and the Ufipi Highlands in the southwest. Tanzania's few rivers include the Pangani, the Rufiji, and the Ruvuma (which forms part of the border with Mozambique), all of which flow into the Indian Ocean, and the Malagarasi River, which flows into Lake Tanganyika. In addition to Dar-es-Salaam and Dodoma, other important towns on the mainland include Arusha, Iringa, Kigoma, Morogoro, Mbeya, Moshi, Mtwara, Mwanza, Tabora, and Tanga.

The great majority of Tanzania's population is of African descent, and most of the peope speak Bantu languages. There are approximately 130 ethnic groups. Inhabitants of South Asian, European, and Arab descent constitute approximately 1% of the population. The Bantu-speaking peoples include the Sukuma (the republic's largest ethnic group), Bena, Chagga, Gogo, Ha, Haya, Hehe, Luguru, Makonde, Makua, Ngoni, Nyakyusa, Nyamwezi, and Nyaturu. In addition, the Masai speak a Nilotic language; the Sandawe speak a language akin to Khoikhoi; and the Iraqw speak a Cushitic language. The inhabitants of Zanzibar are mainly of Arab, African, or mixed Arab and African descent. Swahili and English are the republic's official languages; Arabic is also spoken, primarily on Zanzibar. About 30% of the mainland population is Christian, while 35% is Muslim, and another 35% follow traditional religious beliefs. The population of Zanzibar is almost completely Sunni Muslim.

Economy

The economy of Tanzania is overwhelmingly agricultural; plantations grow cash crops, including coffee, sisal, tea, cotton, pyrethrum, cashews, tobacco, sugarcane, and cloves (cultivated in Zanzibar and Pemba). Most of the population, however, is engaged in subsistence farming, growing corn, wheat, cassava, bananas, fruits, and vegetables. In addition, large numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats are raised. Timber is important and includes mahogany, teak, ebony, camphor wood, and mangrove. Manufactures include processed agricultural goods, beverages, wood products, and basic consumer items. Refined petroleum, fertilizer, aluminum goods, and construction materials are also produced. Diamonds, tanzanite, and other gemstones are mined; other minerals extracted in significant quantities include gold, salt, gypsum, phosphates, and kaolin. There are also tin mines in NW Tanzania and coal and iron ore deposits near Lake Nyasa. Natural gas from deposits around Songo Songo Island, off the S central coast, are used to produce electricity.

Tanzania has limited road and rail networks. The main rail lines run from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigoma (on Lake Tanganyika) and to Tanga, Moshi, and Arusha in the NE. The Tazara Railway (also known as the Great Uhuru or Tanzam Railway), built in the 1970s by the Chinese, connects Dar-es-Salaam with central Zambia, affording landlocked Zambia an alternative route to the sea. The principal exports are gold, coffee, cashews, diamonds and other gemstones, manufactures, and cotton. The principal imports are consumer goods, machinery, transportation equipment, industrial raw materials, crude oil, and foodstuffs. The leading trade partners are China, India, South Africa, and Canada.

Government

Tanzania is governed under the constitution of 1977 as amended. The president, who is head of state and head of government, is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is eligible for a second term. Political parties besides the ruling Party of the Revolution (CCM) were permitted starting in 1993, and the first multiparty elections were held in 1995. The unicameral legislature consists of the 274-seat National Assembly or Bunge; 232 members are popularly elected, 37 are women appointed by the president, and five are members of the Zanzibar's legislature (Zanzibar has its own president and House of Representatives, for dealing with matters internal to Zanzibar). All legislators serve five-year terms. Administratively, Tanzania is divided into 26 regions.

History

Early History

In 1959, Dr. L. S. B. Leakey, a British anthropologist, discovered at Olduvai Gorge in NE Tanzania the fossilized remains of what he called Homo habilis, who lived about 1.75 million years ago. Tanzania was later the site of Paleolithic cultures. By the beginning of the first millennium A.D. scattered parts of the country, including the coast, were thinly populated. At this time overseas trade seems to have been carried out between the coast and NE Africa, SW Asia, and India.

By about A.D. 900 traders from SW Asia and India had settled on the coast, exchanging cloth, beads, and metal goods for ivory. They also exported small numbers of Africans as slaves. By this time there were also commercial contacts with China, directly and via Sri Vijaya (see under Indonesia) and India. By about 1200, Kilwa Kisiwani (situated on an island) was a major trade center, handling gold exported from Sofala (on the coast of modern Mozambique) as well as goods (including ivory, beeswax, and animal skins) from the near interior of Tanzania. By about 1000 the migration of Bantu-speakers into the interior of Tanzania from the west and the south was well under way, and the population there had been greatly increased. The Bantu were organized in relatively small political units.

Foreign Contacts

In 1498, Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, became the first European to visit the Tanzanian coast; in 1502, on his second visit there, he made Kilwa tributary. In 1505, Kilwa was sacked by Francisco d'Almeida, another Portuguese explorer, and by 1506 Portugal controlled most of the coast of E Africa. The Portuguese did not cooperate with the local people, and their impact was mostly negative-trade was disrupted, towns declined, and people migrated from the region. However, Kilwa's trade seems to have grown as a result of contact with the Portuguese. Toward the end of the 16th cent., the Zimba, a group from SE Africa, moved rapidly up the coast, causing considerable damage; in 1587 they sacked Kilwa and killed about 3,000 persons (roughly 40% of its inhabitants).

In 1698 the Portuguese were expelled from the E African coast (except for a brief return in 1725) with the help of Arabs from Oman. In the early 18th cent., the Omanis showed some interest in the commerce of E Africa, and this increased after the Bu Said dynasty replaced the Yarubi rulers in 1741. Oman's commercial activity was centered on Zanzibar (and, to a lesser extent, at Mombasa), from which it controlled the overseas trade of E Africa. By the early 19th cent. numerous towns on the Tanzanian coast had been founded or revived; these included Tanga, Pangani, Bagamoyo, Kilwa Kivinje (situated on the mainland near Kilwa Kisiwani), Lindi, and Mikandani.

The Caravan Trade

Sayyid Said, the great Bu Saidi ruler, took a great interest in E Africa and in 1841 permanently moved his capital from Muscat, in Oman, to Zanzibar. He brought with him many Arabs, who settled in the mainland towns as well as on Zanzibar. About the same time, new caravan routes into the far interior were opened up; the three main lines went from Kilwa and Lindi to the Lake Nyasa region; from Bagamoyo and Mbwamaji (near present-day Dar-es-Salaam) to Tabora, where one branch continued west to Ujiji (and on into modern Congo) and another went north to the Victoria Nyanza region; and from Pangani and Tanga northwest into modern Kenya via Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The caravans following the southern route obtained mainly slaves and ivory; along the more northerly routes ivory was the chief commodity purchased. As a result, the Swahili language (a blend of Bantu grammar and a considerable Arabic vocabulary) and culture gained new adherents. In the middle third of the 19th cent. several European missionaries and explorers visited various parts of Tanzania, notably Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tabora, Lake Victoria, and Lake Nyasa. From the 1860s to the early 1880s Mirambo, a Nyamwezi, headed a large state that controlled much of the caravan trade of central and N Tanzania. About the same time Tippu Tib, a Zanzibari, organized large caravans that passed through Tanzania to present-day Zambia and Congo, where ivory and slaves were obtained.

Colonialism

As the scramble for African territory among the European powers intensified in the 1880s, Carl Peters and other members of the Society for German Colonization signed treaties with Africans (1884-85) in the hinterland of the Tanzanian coast. By an agreement with Great Britain in 1886, Germany established a vague sphere of influence over mainland Tanzania, except for a narrow strip of land along the coast that remained under the suzerainty of the sultan of Zanzibar, who leased it to the Germans. The German East Africa Company (founded 1887) governed the territory, called German East Africa. The company's aggressive conduct resulted in a major resistance movement along the coast by Arabs, Swahili (whose main leaders were Abushiri and Bwana Heri), and other Africans that was only defeated with the help of the German government. A second Anglo-German agreement (1890) added Rwanda, Burundi, and other regions to German East Africa.

Because the company had proved to be an ineffective ruler, the German government in 1891 took over the country (which by then included the coast) and declared it a protectorate. However, it was not until 1898, with the death of the Hehe ruler, Mkwawa, who strongly opposed European rule, that the Germans succeeded in controlling the country. During the period 1905 to 1907 the Maji Maji revolt against German rule engulfed most of SE Tanzania; about 75,000 Africans lost their lives as a result of German military campaigns and lack of food. Under the Germans, several new crops (including sisal, cotton, and plantation-grown rubber) were introduced; the production and sale of other commodities (notably coffee, copra, sesame, and peanuts) was encouraged, and railroads were built to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika and to Moshi. In addition, many new Christian missions, which included rudimentary schools for the Africans, were established.

During World War I, British and Belgian troops occupied (1916) most of German East Africa. In the postwar period the League of Nations made Tanganyika a British mandate, and Ruanda-Urundi (later Rwanda and Burundi), a Belgian mandate; the Portuguese gained control of some land in the southeast. The British, especially during the administration (1925-31) of Gov. Sir Donald Cameron, attempted to rule "indirectly" through existing African leaders. However, unlike N Nigeria, where the policy of indirect rule was first developed (see Frederick Lugard), Tanganyika had few indigenous large-scale political units. Therefore, African leaders had to be established in newly defined constituencies. The effect of British policy, as a result, was to alter considerably the patterns of African life in Tanganyika. After a slow start, the British developed the territory's economy largely along the lines established by the Germans. Increasing numbers of Africans worked for a wage on plantations, especially after 1945, when economic growth began to accelerate. Also after 1945 Africans gradually gained more seats on the territory's legislative council (which had been established in 1926).

Independence and Nyerere

In 1954, Julius Nyerere and Oscar Kambona transformed the Tanganyika African Association (founded in 1929) into the more politically oriented Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). TANU easily won the general elections of 1958-60, and when Tanganyika became independent on Dec. 9, 1961, Nyerere became its first prime minister. In Dec., 1962, Tanganyika became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, and Nyerere was made president. On Apr. 26, 1964, shortly after a leftist revolution in newly independent Zanzibar, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged; Nyerere became the new country's first president. Abeid Amani Karume, the head of Zanzibar's government and leader of its dominant Afro-Shirazi party (ASP), became Tanzania's first vice president. Although formally united with the mainland, Zanzibar retained considerable independence in internal affairs.

In Feb., 1967, Nyerere issued the Arusha Declaration, a major policy statement that called for egalitarianism, socialism, and self-reliance. It promised a decentralized government and a program of rural development called ujamaa ("pulling together") that involved the creation of cooperative farm villages. Factories and plantations were nationalized, and major investments were made in primary schools and health care. While Nyerere put some of the declaration's principles into practice, it was not clear if power in Tanzania was, in fact, being decentralized.

TANU was the mainland's sole legal political party and it was tightly controlled by Nyerere. In the early 1970s there was tension (and occasional border clashes) between Tanzania and Uganda, caused mainly by Nyerere's continued support of Uganda's ousted president, A. Milton Obote. However, in 1973, Nyerere and Gen. Idi Amin, Uganda's new head of state, signed an agreement to end hostilities. Tanzania supported various movements against white-minority rule in S Africa, and several of these organizations had offices in Dar-es-Salaam. In 1977, TANU and Zanzibar's ASP merged to form the Party of the Revolution (CCM). A new constitution was adopted the same year.

Hostilities with Uganda resumed in 1978 when Ugandan military forces occupied about 700 sq mi (1800 sq km) of N Tanzania and left only after having caused substantial damage. One month later, Tanzanian forces and Ugandan rebels staged a counterinvasion. Tanzania captured the Ugandan capital of Kampala in 1979 and drove Idi Amin from power. This campaign further depleted the country's already scarce economic resources. Tanzania maintained troops in Uganda after its victory and drew criticism from other African nations for its actions. In 1983, negotiations between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda led to the reopening of the Kenyan border, which had been closed since 1977 after the collapse of the East African Community.

Tanzania after Nyerere

By the 1980s, it was clear that the economic policies set out by the Arusha Declaration had failed. The economy continued to deteriorate with cycles of alternating floods and droughts, which reduced agricultural production and exports. After Nyerere resigned as promised in 1985, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, president of Zanzibar, became head of the one-party government. He began an economic recovery program involving cuts in government spending, decontrol of prices, and encouragement of foreign investment; modest growth resumed. In 1992 the constitution was amended to allow opposition parties.

The 1995 multiparty elections, which were regarded by international observers as seriously flawed, were won by Benjamin William Mkapa, candidate of the ruling CCM. In the 1990s Tanzania was overwhelmed by refugees from the war in neighboring Burundi; by the end of the decade some 300,000 were in Tanzania, and the number subsequently grew. Tanzania began repatriating the refugees in 2002, but some 100,000 remained in 2008. More than 200,000 Burundian refugees who fled to Tanzania in 1972 also remain.

Mkapa, who continued to pursue economic reforms, was reelected in 2000, but there were blatant irregularities in the vote in Zanzibar, where the opposition party, which favors greater independence for the island, had been expected to do well. In 2005 the CCM candidate for president, Jakaya Kikwete won the election with 80% of the vote and CCM won more than 90% of the seats in parliament, but the voting in Zanzibar was again marred by violence and irregularities. A corruption investigation implicated the prime minister, Edward Lowassa, and two other cabinet members in 2008, leading them to resign in February; Kikwete subsequently re-formed the cabinet.

Bibliography

See R. A. Austen, Northwest Tanzania under German and British Rule (1968); I. N. Kinambo and A. J. Temu, ed., A History of Tanzania (1969); J. C. Hatch, Tanzania (1972); C. R. Ingle, From Village to State in Tanzania (1972); I. N. Resnick, The Long Transition: Building Socialism in Tanzania (1981); J. Iliffe, A Modern History of Tanganyika (1981); M. Hood, ed., Tanzania and Nyerere (1988); D. Berg-Schlosser and R. Siegler, Political Stability and Development: A Comparative Analysis of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda (1990); J. Bresen et al., ed., Tanzania (1990).


Geography: Tanzania
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(tan-zuh-nee-uh)

Republic in eastern Africa, formed in 1964 by the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. It is bordered to the north by Uganda, Lake Victoria, and Kenya; to the east by the Indian Ocean; to the south by Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia; and to the west by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi,, and Rwanda. Its capital and largest city is Dar es Salaam.

  • Louis B. Leakey, a British anthropologist, found the remains of a direct ancestor of the present human species, about 1.75 million years old, at Olduvai Gorge in northeastern Tanzania.

Dialing Code: Tanzania
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The international dialing code for Tanzania is:   255


Maps: Tanzania
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Currency: Tanzania
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Tanzanian Shilling



Statistics: Tanzania
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Click to enlarge flag of Tanzania
Introduction
Background:Shortly after achieving independence from Britain in the early 1960s, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania in 1964. One-party rule came to an end in 1995 with the first democratic elections held in the country since the 1970s. Zanzibar's semi-autonomous status and popular opposition have led to two contentious elections since 1995, which the ruling party won despite international observers' claims of voting irregularities.
Geography
Map of Tanzania
Location:Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique
Geographic coordinates:6 00 S, 35 00 E
Map references:Africa
Area:total: 945,087 sq km
land: 886,037 sq km
water: 59,050 sq km
note: includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar
Area - comparative:slightly larger than twice the size of California
Land boundaries:total: 3,861 km
border countries: Burundi 451 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 459 km, Kenya 769 km, Malawi 475 km, Mozambique 756 km, Rwanda 217 km, Uganda 396 km, Zambia 338 km
Coastline:1,424 km
Maritime claims:territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:varies from tropical along coast to temperate in highlands
Terrain:plains along coast; central plateau; highlands in north, south
Elevation extremes:lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kilimanjaro 5,895 m
Natural resources:hydropower, tin, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, nickel
Land use:arable land: 4.23%
permanent crops: 1.16%
other: 94.61% (2005)
Irrigated land:1,840 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:91 cu km (2001)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):total: 5.18 cu km/yr (10%/0%/89%)
per capita: 135 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:flooding on the central plateau during the rainy season; drought
Environment - current issues:soil degradation; deforestation; desertification; destruction of coral reefs threatens marine habitats; recent droughts affected marginal agriculture; wildlife threatened by illegal hunting and trade, especially for ivory
Environment - international agreements:party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:Kilimanjaro is highest point in Africa; bordered by three of the largest lakes on the continent: Lake Victoria (the world's second-largest freshwater lake) in the north, Lake Tanganyika (the world's second deepest) in the west, and Lake Nyasa in the southwest
People
Population:41,048,532
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)
Age structure:0-14 years: 43% (male 8,853,529/female 8,805,810)
15-64 years: 54.1% (male 10,956,133/female 11,255,868)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 513,959/female 663,233) (2009 est.)
Median age:total: 18 years
male: 17.8 years
female: 18.3 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:2.04% (2009 est.)
Birth rate:34.29 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate:12.92 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:-1.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization:urban population: 25% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 4.2% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio:at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:total: 69.28 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.24 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 62.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:total population: 52.01 years
male: 50.56 years
female: 53.51 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:4.46 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:6.2% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:1.4 million (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:96,000 (2007 est.)
Major infectious diseases:degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and plague
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
animal contact disease: rabies (2009)
Nationality:noun: Tanzanian(s)
adjective: Tanzanian
Ethnic groups:mainland - African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, African, mixed Arab and African
Religions:mainland - Christian 30%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35%; Zanzibar - more than 99% Muslim
Languages:Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguja (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages
note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety of sources including Arabic and English; it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages
Literacy:definition: age 15 and over can read and write Kiswahili (Swahili), English, or Arabic
total population: 69.4%
male: 77.5%
female: 62.2% (2002 census)
Education expenditures:2.2% of GDP (1999)
Government
Country name:conventional long form: United Republic of Tanzania
conventional short form: Tanzania
local long form: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania
local short form: Tanzania
former: United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar
Government type:republic
Capital:name: Dar es Salaam
geographic coordinates: 6 48 S, 39 17 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note: legislative offices have been transferred to Dodoma, which is planned as the new national capital; the National Assembly now meets there on a regular basis
Administrative divisions:26 regions; Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Iringa, Kagera, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Lindi, Manyara, Mara, Mbeya, Morogoro, Mtwara, Mwanza, Pemba North, Pemba South, Pwani, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora, Tanga, Zanzibar Central/South, Zanzibar North, Zanzibar Urban/West
Independence:26 April 1964; Tanganyika became independent 9 December 1961 (from UK-administered UN trusteeship); Zanzibar became independent 19 December 1963 (from UK); Tanganyika united with Zanzibar 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; renamed United Republic of Tanzania 29 October 1964
National holiday:Union Day (Tanganyika and Zanzibar), 26 April (1964)
Constitution:25 April 1977; major revisions October 1984
Legal system:based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:chief of state: President Jakaya KIKWETE (since 21 December 2005); Vice President Dr. Ali Mohammed SHEIN (since 5 July 2001); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Jakaya KIKWETE (since 21 December 2005); Vice President Dr. Ali Mohammed SHEIN (since 5 July 2001)
note: Zanzibar elects a president who is head of government for matters internal to Zanzibar; Amani Abeid KARUME was reelected to that office on 30 October 2005
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ballot by popular vote for five-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 14 December 2005 (next to be held in December 2010); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Jakaya KIKWETE elected president; percent of vote - Jakaya KIKWETE 80.3%, Ibrahim LIPUMBA 11.7%, Freeman MBOWE 5.9%
Legislative branch:unicameral National Assembly or Bunge (274 seats; 232 members elected by popular vote, 37 allocated to women nominated by the president, 5 to members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives; to serve five-year terms); note - in addition to enacting laws that apply to the entire United Republic of Tanzania, the Assembly enacts laws that apply only to the mainland; Zanzibar has its own House of Representatives to make laws especially for Zanzibar (the Zanzibar House of Representatives has 50 seats elected by universal suffrage to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 14 December 2005 (next to be held in December 2010)
election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CCM 206, CUF 19, CHADEMA 5, other 2, women appointed by the president 37, Zanzibar representatives 5 Zanzibar House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CCM 30, CUF 19; 1 seat was nullified with a rerun to take place soon
Judicial branch:Permanent Commission of Enquiry (official ombudsman); Court of Appeal (consists of a chief justice and four judges); High Court (consists of a Jaji Kiongozi and 29 judges appointed by the president; holds regular sessions in all regions); District Courts; Primary Courts (limited jurisdiction and appeals can be made to the higher courts)
Political parties and leaders:Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Party of Democracy and Development) or CHADEMA [Bob MAKANI]; Chama Cha Mapinduzi or CCM (Revolutionary Party) [Jakaya Mrisho KIKWETE]; Civic United Front or CUF [Ibrahim LIPUMBA]; Democratic Party [Christopher MTIKLA] (unregistered); Tanzania Labor Party or TLP [Augustine Lyatonga MREME]; United Democratic Party or UDP [John CHEYO]
Political pressure groups and leaders:Economic and Social Research Foundation or ESRF; Free Zanzibar; Tanzania Media Women's Association or TAMWA
International organization participation:ACP, AfDB, AU, C, EAC, EADB, FAO, G-6, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:chief of mission: Ambassador Ombeni Yohana SEFUE
chancery: 2139 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-6125
FAX: [1] (202) 797-7408
Diplomatic representation from the US:chief of mission: Ambassador Mark GREEN
embassy: 686 Old Bagamoyo Road, Msasani, Dar es Salaam
mailing address: P. O. Box 9123, Dar es Salaam
telephone: [255] (22) 266-8001
FAX: [255] (22) 266-8238, 266-8373
Flag description:divided diagonally by a yellow-edged black band from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is green and the lower triangle is blue
Economy
Economy - overview:Tanzania is in the bottom ten percent of the world's economies in terms of per capita income. The economy depends heavily on agriculture, which accounts for more than 40% of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs 80% of the work force. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the land area. Industry traditionally featured the processing of agricultural products and light consumer goods. The World Bank, the IMF, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's out-of-date economic infrastructure and to alleviate poverty. Long-term growth through 2005 featured a pickup in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals led by gold. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private-sector growth and investment. Continued donor assistance and solid macroeconomic policies supported real GDP growth of 7.1% in 2008.
GDP (purchasing power parity):$54.26 billion (2008 est.)
$50.67 billion (2007)
$47.29 billion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):$20.63 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:7.1% (2008 est.)
7.1% (2007 est.)
6.7% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):$1,300 (2008 est.)
$1,300 (2007 est.)
$1,200 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:agriculture: 27%
industry: 22.7%
services: 50.3% (2008 est.)
Labor force:20.38 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate:NA%
Population below poverty line:36% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 26.9% (2000)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:34.6 (2000)
Investment (gross fixed):24.2% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget:revenues: $4.216 billion
expenditures: $4.658 billion (2008 est.)
Fiscal year:1 July - 30 June
Public debt:22% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):9.3% (2008 est.)
Central bank discount rate:16.4% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:16.03% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:$2.263 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:$2.885 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:$2.25 billion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:$587.9 million (2005)
Agriculture - products:coffee, sisal, tea, cotton, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), cashew nuts, tobacco, cloves, corn, wheat, cassava (tapioca), bananas, fruits, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats
Industries:agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine); diamond, gold, and iron mining, salt, soda ash; cement, oil refining, shoes, apparel, wood products, fertilizer
Industrial production growth rate:10% (2008 est.)
Electricity - production:2.682 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - consumption:2.225 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:123 million kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - production by source:fossil fuel: 18.9%
hydro: 81.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Oil - production:0 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:27,270 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:0 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:26,760 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:146 million cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:146 million cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - exports:0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:6.513 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:-$2.275 billion (2008 est.)
Exports:$2.49 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Exports - commodities:gold, coffee, cashew nuts, manufactures, cotton
Exports - partners:China 10.3%, India 9.7%, Netherlands 6.5%, Germany 6.3%, UAE 4.9% (2007)
Imports:$5.901 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports - commodities:consumer goods, machinery and transportation equipment, industrial raw materials, crude oil
Imports - partners:China 12%, Kenya 8%, South Africa 7.7%, India 6.9%, UAE 5.9% (2007)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:$2.624 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Debt - external:$5.311 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:$NA
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:$NA
Currency (code):Tanzanian shilling (TZS)
Currency code:TZS
Exchange rates:Tanzanian shillings (TZS) per US dollar - 1,178.1 (2008 est.), 1,255 (2007), 1,251.9 (2006), 1,128.93 (2005), 1,089.33 (2004)
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use:165,013 (2008)
Telephones - mobile cellular:9.358 million (2008)
Telephone system:general assessment: telecommunications services are inadequate; system operating below capacity and being modernized for better service; small aperture terminal (VSAT) system under construction
domestic: fixed-line telephone network inadequate with less than 1 connection per 100 persons; mobile-cellular service, aided by multiple providers, is increasing; trunk service provided by open-wire, microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and fiber-optic cable; some links being made digital
international: country code - 255; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations:AM 12, FM 11, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios:8.8 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:3 (1999)
Televisions:103,000 (1997)
Internet country code:.tz
Internet hosts:24,271 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):6 (2000)
Internet users:400,000 (2007)
Transportation
Airports:124 (2008)
Airports - with paved runways:total: 9
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2008)
Airports - with unpaved runways:total: 115
1,524 to 2,437 m: 18
914 to 1,523 m: 63
under 914 m: 34 (2008)
Pipelines:gas 253 km; oil 888 km; refined products 8 km (2008)
Railways:total: 3,690 km
narrow gauge: 969 km 1.067-m gauge; 2,721 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:total: 78,891 km
paved: 6,808 km
unpaved: 72,083 km (2003)
Waterways:Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, and Lake Nyasa principal avenues of commerce with neighboring countries; rivers not navigable (2007)
Merchant marine:total: 9
by type: cargo 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 4
registered in other countries: 1 (Honduras 1) (2008)
Ports and terminals:Dar es Salaam
Transportation - note:the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Indian Ocean are high risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships; numerous commercial vessels have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway; crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen
Military
Military branches:Tanzanian People's Defense Force (Jeshi la Wananchi la Tanzania, JWTZ): Army, Naval Wing (includes Coast Guard), Air Defense Command (includes Air Wing), National Service (2007)
Military service age and obligation:18 years of age for voluntary military service (2007)
Manpower available for military service:males age 16-49: 9,108,177 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:males age 16-49: 5,473,552
females age 16-49: 5,493,188 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:male: 487,742
female: 489,462 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures:0.2% of GDP (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international:Tanzania still hosts more than a half-million refugees, more than any other African country, mainly from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite the international community's efforts at repatriation; disputes with Malawi over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and the meandering Songwe River remain dormant
Refugees and internally displaced persons:refugees (country of origin): 352,640 (Burundi); 127,973 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (2007)
Illicit drugs:growing role in transshipment of Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for South African, European, and US markets and of South Asian methaqualone bound for southern Africa; money laundering remains a problem


Local Cuisine: Tanzania
Top

Recipes

Chai (Tea)
Coconut Bean Soup
Ugali
Chapatti (Fried Flat Bread)
Mango-Orange Drink
Ndizi Kaanga (Fried Bananas or Plantains)
Wali wa Nazi (Rice in Coconut Milk)
Supu Ya Ndizi (Plantain Soup)
Date Nut Bread
Sweet Potato Pudding
Mchicha (Spinach with Coconut and Peanuts)
Makubi (Spinach with Tomatoes)

Geographic Setting and Environment

Situated in East Africa just south of the equator, Tanzania is made up of a mainland area and the islands of Zanzibar, Pembe, and Mafia. Mainland Tanzania lies between the area of the great lakes—Victoria, Tanganyika, and Malawi (Niassa)—and the Indian Ocean. It contains a total area of 945,090 square kilometers (364,901 square miles), slightly larger than twice the size of the state of California. A plateau makes up the greater part of the country. The Pare mountain range is in the northeast, and the Kipengere mountain range is in the southwest. Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters/19,340 feet) is the highest mountain in Africa. On the borders are three large lakes: Victoria, Tanganyika, and Lake Malawi.

Two-thirds of Zanzibar Island consists of low-lying coral country covered by bush and grass plains. The western side of the island is fertile, and Pemba, apart from a narrow belt of coral country in the east, is fertile and densely populated.

There are four main climatic zones: the coastal area and immediate interior, where conditions are tropical; the central plateau, which is hot and dry; the highland areas; and the high, moist lake regions.

History and Food

The earliest known inhabitants in Tanzania's long and colorful past were primarily hunter-gatherers. In addition, Tanzania has had many of years of influence from other parts of the world. In the first five hundred years A.D., vegetables, millet, and sorghum, and fruits and fish were mostly eaten. By A.D. 800, however, Muslim Arabs established trade routes to and from the country. They introduced citrus fruits, cotton plants, and pilau and biriani (spicy rice and meat dishes), having the greatest effect on the cuisines of coastal regions and the island of Zanzibar. The inhabitants introduced coconut oil and various tools and textiles to the Arabs in return.

Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived in East Africa in 1498 and aggressively took control of the coastal regions and trade routes. Da Gama (called afriti, a devil, by locals), who was on his way to the Middle East and India, stopped at present-day Tanzania to rest his men, who were suffering from scurvy (a lack of vitamin C). Chungwa (oranges, rich in vitamin C), relatively unknown to Europeans at the time, were introduced to the ailing crewmen. The Portuguese dominated the region until the Arabs regained control in 1698. Despite nearly two hundred years of rule, the Portuguese left little behind. The introduction of cassava, a root crop that has become an important staple in the Tanzanian diet, and groundnuts (peanuts) were probably their most significant contributions.

The number of East African slaves who were bought to work Tanzania's plantations increased as the result of the discovery of clove, a key spice in the country's cuisine. After slavery was abolished in 1873, the British and Germans battled for control over Tanzania (then known as Tanganyika). At first, the British (who introduced tea and boiled vegetables) prevailed, encouraging the cultivation of crops that could be exported for profit. By 1891, the Germans took control. They established coffee and cotton plantations. The success of the plantations, however, diminished during World War I (1914–1918), when nearly 100,000 troops and civilians died as a result of fighting, influenza (flu), and famine. Tanzania became an independent nation on December 9, 1961.

See Chai (Tea) recipe.

See Coconut Bean Soup recipe.

Foods of the Tanzanians

Most food that makes up Tanzanian cuisine is typical throughout all of East Africa. Meat is not widely consumed in comparison with other areas of the continent. Cattle are normally slaughtered only for very special occasions, such as a wedding or the birth of a baby. Cattle, sheep, and goats are raised primarily for their milk and the value they contribute to social status. When meat is consumed, however, nyama choma (grilled meat) and ndayu (roasted, young goat) are most popular.

The Tanzanian diet is largely based on starches such as millet, sorghum, beans, pilaf, and cornmeal. A meal that could be considered the country's national dish is ugali, a stiff dough made of cassava flour, cornmeal (maize), millet, or sorghum, and usually served with a sauce containing either meat, fish, beans, or cooked vegetables. It is typically eaten out of a large bowl that is shared by everyone at the table. Wali (rice) and various samaki (fish) cooked in coconut are the preferred staples for those living in coastal communities.

The introduction of various spices by the Arabs is highly evident in a popular coastal dish, pilau. It consists of rice spiced with curry, cinnamon, cumin, hot peppers, and cloves. Matunda (fruits) and mboga (vegetables) such as plantains, similar to the banana, ndizi (bananas), pawpaw (papaya), biringani (eggplant), nyana (tomatoes), beans, muhogo (cassava), spinach and other greens, and maize (similar to corn) are frequently eaten, many of which are grown in backyard gardens. Ndizi Kaanga (fried bananas or plantains) is a local dish that is very popular with Tanzanians and tourists alike. In the cities, Indian food is abundant.

Chai (tea), the most widely consumed beverage, is typically consumed throughout the day, often while socializing and visiting with friends and family. Sweet fried breads called vitumbua (small rice cakes) are commonly eaten with chai in the mornings, or between meals as a snack. Chapatti (fried flat bread), also served with tea, is a popular snack among children. Street vendors commonly sell freshly ground black coffee in small porcelain cups, soft drinks, and fresh juices made of pineapple, oranges, or sugar cane. Adults enjoy a special banana beer called mbege made in the Kilimanjaro region (northeast Tanzania). Aside from the common serving of fresh fruits or pudding, desserts such as mandazi (deep-fried doughnut-like cakes) are sold by vendors.

See Ugali recipe.

See Chapatti (Fried Flat Bread) recipe.

See Mango-Orange Drink recipe.

See Ndizi Kaanga (Fried Bananas or Plantains) recipe.

See Wali wa Nazi (Rice in Coconut Milk) recipe.

Food for Religious and Holiday Celebrations

The people of Tanzania follow a variety of religions. Roughly one-third of the population is Muslim (believers in Islam) and one-third is Christian. Nearly all of the island of Zanzibar and much of the mainland coastal regions consist of Muslims; most Christians live inland. Hinduism and indigenous beliefs make up the majority of the remaining one-third who believe in a specific religion.

The warm Christmas in Tanzania is a special time for Christians. The majority of people are invited to a guest's house for dinner Christmas night. Pilau (rice dish containing spices), chai, and a chicken, red meat, or seafood dish are usually served. A traditional walk along the beach following dinner may leave some very wet—Christmas falls during East Africa's rainy season.

Ramadan is probably the holiest time of the year for Muslims. During this month-long observance, neither food nor drink may be consumed between sunrise and sunset, often a difficult responsibility in the country's warm temperatures. Eid al-Fitr, the feast that ends the month of fasting, is always eagerly anticipated by Muslims of all ages. In expectation of the feast, vendors sell cassava chips and tamarind juice made from the tamarind (a flat, bean-like, acidic fruit), and some rush to the stores to purchase plantains, fish, dates, and ready-made bags of ugali for the long-awaited meal. To make certain the feast can take place (and that Ramadan has ended), many gather around to listen to the radio, hoping to hear that the new moon has officially arrived in the night sky. When it is announced, children often dress up (similar to Halloween in the United States) and walk from house to house for cake and lemongrass tea.

Secular (nonreligious) holidays also produce a lot of excitement. On August 8 each year, Farmers and Peasants Day is celebrated. On this day, the country pays tribute and expresses appreciation to farmers and peasants for helping to feed the country and keep agriculture thriving. Zanzibar, one of the country's islands, has its own celebration every January 12, marking the anniversary of the island's independence from Britain.

On the special day of a Tanzanian wedding, gifts are often given to the bride-to-be by her family so that she is prepared to cook and care for her new husband. A kinu (wooden mortar for crushing grains and vegetables), a kibao cha (coconut grater), a kebao cha chapatti (round table for preparing chapatti), and a upawa (wooden ladle) are examples of traditional gifts. On such a special occasion, mbuzi (roasted goat) is often prepared.

See Supu Ya Ndizi (Plantain Soup) recipe.

See Date Nut Bread recipe.

See Sweet Potato Pudding recipe.

Mealtime Customs

Guests are polite and respectful when visiting a Tanzanian home. Loose-fitted clothing is appropriate attire, since most meals are served to diners seated around a floor mat or low table. Prior to the meal, a bowl of water and a towel may be passed around to the diners to wash their hands. The bowl is passed to the next person with the right hand, as the left one is considered unclean. The right hand should also be used to dip into the ugali, which is commonly served in a communal bowl before the main meal.

Goat, chicken, or lamb is likely to be served, for those who can afford it. Most families eat meat only on special occasions, such as a wedding. A wali (rice) dish and a vegetableor maharage (beans), may also be served along with chai (tea). Greens are popular side dishes, and are often prepared with coconut and peanuts (Mchicha) or tomatoes and peanut butter (Makubi). Fresh fruit is the most common after-dinner treat, although sweets such as honey or potato cakes may also be offered. It is acceptable to leave food on a plate at the end of a meal, as this reassures the host that the guest is satisfied.

Eating customs vary throughout the country according to ethnic group and religious beliefs. However, the typical family meal is almost always prepared by the mother and daughters, usually on a wood or charcoal fire in an open courtyard, or in a special kitchen that is often separated from the rest of the house. The midday meal is usually the largest, consisting of ugali, spinach, kisamuru (cassava leaves), and stew, though kiamshakinywa (breakfast) is seldom forgotten. Spiced milk tea and freshly baked bread are popular in the morning. Men and women in Muslim households (about one-third of Tanzanians) often eat separately. Taboos may also prohibit men from entering the kitchen at all.

Only a little over half of all children in Tanzania attend primary school, according to UNICEF. As an added incentive to attend school, foreign countries (such as the United States) are helping to offer free lunches to students during the day. The Tanzania School Health Program aims to ensure child health, including the maintenance of clean water and periodic physical examinations. In addition, the program promotes the growth of school gardens to assist in nutritional education. A typical Tanzanian school lunch may be porridge made of millet, groundnuts (peanuts), and sugar, cooked outside in large kettles over an open fire, often accompanied by milk.

See Mchicha (Spinach, Coconut, and Peanuts) recipe.

See Makubi recipe.

Further Study

Books

Asch, Lisa. Tanzania. Lincolnwood, Illinois: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company, 1997.

Camerapix Publishers International. SpectrumGuide to Tanzania. New York: Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., 1998.

Frey, Elke and Kavid Kyungu. Explore the World:Tanzania. München: Nelles Verlag, 1998.

Lauré, Jason and Ettagale Blauer. Tanzania. Canada: Children's Press, 1994.

Tanzania, Zanzibar & Pemba. Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, 1999.

Webb, Lois Sinaiko. Holidays of the World Cookbook for Students. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 1995.

Web Sites

CultureConnect.com. [Online] Available http://cultureconnect.com/content/travel/gemma1-1.htm (accessed April 4, 2001).

Life in Africa. [Online] Available http://www.lifeinafrica.com/fun/recipes/chapati.htm/ (accessed April 3, 2001).

Recipes of Africa. [Online] Available http://www.balaams-ass.com/journal/homemake/rcpafras.htm (accessed April 3, 2001).

Sallys-Place.com. [Online] Available http://www.sallys-place.com/ (accessed April 3, 2001).

The Swahili Coast Magazine. [Online] Available http://www.swahilicoast.com/ (accessed April 5, 2001).

Unicef. [Online] Available http://www.unicef.org (accessed April 3, 2001).

Zanzibar.org. [Online] Available http://www.zanzibar.org (accessed April 5, 2001).



National Anthem: National Anthem of: Tanzania
Top

1.

Mungu ibariki Africa
Wabariki Viongozi wake
Hekima Umoja na Amani
Hizi ni ngao zetu
Afrika na watu wake.

Chorus:

Ibariki Afrika
Ibariki Afrika
Tubariki watoto wa Afrika.

2.

Mungu ibariki Tanzania
Dumisha uhuru na Umoja
Wake kwa Waume na Watoto
Mungu Ibariki,
Tanzania na watu wake.

Chorus:

Ibariki Tanzania
Ibariki Tanzania
Tubariki watoto wa Tanzania.

Wikipedia: Tanzania
Top
United Republic of Tanzania
Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania
Flag Coat of arms
Motto"Uhuru na Umoja"  (Swahili)
"Freedom and Unity"
AnthemMungu ibariki Afrika
"God Bless Africa"
Capital Dodoma
Largest city Dar es Salaam
Official languages Swahili (de facto)
English (Higher courts, higher education)[1]
Demonym Tanzanian
Government Republic
 -  President Jakaya Kikwete
 -  Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda
Independence from the United Kingdom 
 -  Tanganyika December 9, 1961 
 -  Zanzibar January 12, 1964 
 -  Merger April 26, 1964 
Area
 -  Total 945,203 km2 (27th)
364,898 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 6.2
Population
 -  2009 estimate 43,739,000[2] (32nd)
 -  2005 census 37,445,392 
 -  Density 46.3/km2 (124th)
119.9/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $53.790 billion[3] 
 -  Per capita $1,353[3] 
GDP (nominal) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $20.668 billion[3] 
 -  Per capita $520[3] 
Gini (2000–01) 34.6 (medium
HDI (2008) 0.530 (medium) (151st)
Currency Tanzanian shilling (TZS)
Time zone EAT (UTC+3)
 -  Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+3)
Drives on the left
Internet TLD .tz
Calling code +2552
1 Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.
² 007 from Kenya and Uganda.

The United Republic of Tanzania (pronounced /ˌtænzəˈniːə/; Swahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania)[4] is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.

The United Republic of Tanzania is a unitary republic composed of 26 mikoa (regions). The current head of state is President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, elected in 2005. Since 1996, the official capital of Tanzania has been Dodoma, where parliament and some government offices are located.[5] Between independence and 1996 the major coastal city of Dar es Salaam had been the country's political capital. Today Dar es Salaam remains the principal commercial city of Tanzania and the de-facto seat of most government institutions.[6][7] It is the major seaport for the country and its landlocked neighbours.

The name Tanzania is a portmanteau of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The two states united in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which later the same year was renamed the United Republic of Tanzania.[6]

Years of poorly-implemented "African socialist" policies, including forced relocations to collective farms, left the country as one of the poorest, least developed and most aid-dependent in the world.[8] Tanzania started a process of gradual reforms in the mid-1980s.

Contents

History

Reaching back about 10,000 years, Tanzania is believed to have been populated by hunter-gatherer communities, probably Khoisan speaking people. About 2000 years ago, Bantu-speaking people began to arrive from western Africa in a series of migrations. Later, Nilotic pastoralists arrived, and continued to immigrate into the area through to the 18th century.[9] Travellers and merchants from the Persian Gulf and Western India have visited the East African coast since early in the first millennium CE. Islam was practised on the Swahili coast as early as the eighth or ninth century CE.[10] Claiming the coastal strip, Omani Sultan Seyyid Said moved his capital to Zanzibar City in 1840. During this time, Zanzibar became the center for the Arab slave trade.[11] Between 65% to 90% of the population of Arab-Swahili Zanzibar was enslaved.[12] One of the most famous slave traders on the East African coast was Tippu Tip, who was himself the grandson of an enslaved African. The Nyamwezi slave traders operated under the leadership of Msiri and Mirambo.[13]

During World War I, an invasion attempt by the British was thwarted by German General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, who then mounted a drawn out guerrilla warfare campaign against the British. Formerly a German colony from the 1880s through 1919, the post-World War I accords and the League of Nations charter designated the area a British Mandate (except for a small area in the northwest, which was ceded to Belgium and later became Rwanda and Burundi).

British rule came to an end in 1961 after a relatively peaceful (compared with neighbouring Kenya, for instance) transition to independence. In 1954, Julius Nyerere transformed an organization into the politically oriented Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). TANU's main objective was to achieve national sovereignty for Tanganyika. A campaign to register new members was launched, and within a year TANU had become the leading political organisation in the country. Nyerere became Minister of British-administered Tanganyika in 1960 and continued as Prime Minister when Tanganyika became officially independent in 1961. Soon after independence, Nyerere's first presidency took a turn to the Left after the Arusha Declaration, which codified a commitment to socialism in Pan-African fashion. After the Declaration, banks were nationalised as were many large industries.

After the Zanzibar Revolution overthrew the Arab regime in neighboring Zanzibar, which had become independent in 1963, the island merged with mainland Tanganyika to form the nation of Tanzania on April 26, 1964. The union of the two, hitherto separate, regions was controversial among many Zanzibaris (even those sympathetic to the revolution) but was accepted by both the Nyerere government and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar owing to shared political values and goals. Nyerere set up one-party rule. The communist bloc powers of China, East Germany and the USSR established friendly relations with the new regime. Corruption was rampant.[14]

The socialist regime burned villages and forced people to relocate onto collective farms, which greatly disrupted agricultural efficiency and output.[15] Tanzania turned from a nation of struggling sustenance farmers into a nation of starving collective farmers. From the late 1970s, Tanzania's economy took a turn for the worse. Tanzania also aligned with Communist China, seeking Chinese aid in Tanzania's socialist endeavor. The Chinese were quick to comply, but with the catch that all projects be completed by imported Chinese labor.

Years of failed socialism left the country as one of the poorest, the least developed and the most aid-dependent in the world.[8] From the mid 1980s, the regime financed itself by borrowing from the International Monetary Fund and underwent some reforms. From the mid 1980s Tanzania's GDP per capita has grown and poverty has been reduced.[16]

Politics

Tanzania's president and National Assembly members are elected concurrently by direct popular vote for five-year terms. The president appoints a prime minister who serves as the government's leader in the National Assembly. The president selects his cabinet from among National Assembly members. The Constitution also empowers him to nominate ten non-elected members of Parliament, who also are eligible to become cabinet members. Elections for president and all National Assembly seats were held in December 2005. Tanzania is a one party dominant state with the Chama Cha Mapinduzi in power. Opposition parties are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power, however, the country remains peaceful despite this assertion.

The unicameral National Assembly elected in 2000 has 295 members. These 295 members include the Attorney General, five members elected from the Zanzibar House of Representatives to participate in the Parliament, the special women's seats which are made up of 20% of the seats that a given party has in the House, 181 constituent seats of members of Parliament from the mainland, and 50 seats from Zanzibar. Also in the list are forty-eight appointed for women and the seats for the 10 nominated members of Parliament. At present, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi holds about 93% of the seats in the Assembly. Laws passed by the National Assembly are valid for Zanzibar only in specifically designated union matters.

Zanzibar's House of Representatives has jurisdiction over all non-union matters. There are currently seventy-six members in the House of Representatives in Zanzibar, including fifty elected by the people, ten appointed by the president of Zanzibar, five ex officio members, and an attorney general appointed by the president. In May 2002, the government increased the number of special seats allocated to women from ten to fifteen, which will increase the number of House of Representatives members to eighty-one. Ostensibly, Zanzibar's House of Representatives can make laws for Zanzibar without the approval of the union government as long as it does not involve union-designated matters. The terms of office for Zanzibar's president and House of Representatives also are five years. The semiautonomous relationship between Zanzibar and the union is a unique system of government.

Tanzania has a five-level judiciary combining the jurisdictions of tribal, Islamic, and British common law. Appeal is from the primary courts through the district courts, resident magistrate courts, to the high courts, and Court of Appeals. Judges are appointed by the Chief Justice, except those for the Court of Appeals and the High Court who are appointed by the president. The Zanzibari court system parallels the legal system of the union, and all cases tried in Zanzibari courts, except for those involving constitutional issues and Islamic law, can be appealed to the Court of Appeals of the union. A commercial court was established in September 1999 as a division of the High Court.

Economy

A market near Arusha.

The economy is mostly based on agriculture, which accounts for more than half of the GDP, provides 85% (approximately) of exports, and employs approximately 80% of the workforce. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the land area.

The nation has many resources including gold and natural gas. Extraction of natural gas began this decade. Gas is drawn into the commercial capital, Dar Es Salaam and exported to various markets overseas. Lack of overall development however has hampered the extraction of these various resources, and even up to the present there has been effort to develop the natural resource sector but no major quantifiable results.

Industry is mainly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. Tanzania has vast amounts of natural resources including gold, diamonds, coal, iron ore, uranium, nickel, chrome, tin, platinum, coltan, niobium and other minerals. It is the third-largest producer of gold in Africa after South Africa and Ghana. Tanzania is also known for the Tanzanite gemstones. Tanzania has dozens of beautiful national parks like the world famous Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, that generate income with a large tourism sector that plays a vital part in the economy. Growth from 1991 to 1999 featured a pickup in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals, led by gold. Commercial production of natural gas from the Songo Songo island in the Indian Ocean off the Rufiji Delta commenced 2004,[17] with natural gas being pumped in a pipeline to the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, with the bulk of it being converted to electricity by the public utility and private operators. A new gas field is being brought on stream in Mnazi Bay.

Recent public sector and banking reforms, and revamped and new legislative frameworks have all helped increase private-sector growth and investment. Short-term economic progress also depends on curbing corruption and cutting back on unnecessary public spending.[18]

Prolonged drought during the early years of the 21st century has severely reduced electricity generation capacity (some 60% of Tanzania's electricity supplies are generated by hydro-electric schemes).[19] During 2006, Tanzania suffered a crippling series of "load-shedding" or power rationing events caused by a shortfall of generated power, largely because of insufficient hydro-electric generation. Plans to increase gas- and coal-fueled generation capacity are likely to take some years to implement, and growth is forecast to be increased to seven per cent per year, and perhaps eight or more.[20]

There are 3 major airlines in Tanzania, the Air Tanzania Corporation, Precision Air which provide local flights (Arusha, Kigoma, Mtwara, Mwanza, Musoma, Shinyanga, Zanzibar) and regional flights to Kigali, Nairobi, Mombasa routes and a third one that provides local flights only. There are also several charter aeroplane firms. There are two railway companies: TAZARA caters for service between Dar-es-Salaam and Kapiri-Mposhi, a district of the Central Province in Zambia. The other one is the Tanzania Railways Corporation, which provides services between Dar-es-Salaam and Kigoma, a town on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and between Dar-es-Salaam and Mwanza, a city on the shores of Lake Victoria. There is also a service across the Indian Ocean between Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar by several modern hydrofoil boats.

Tanzania is part of the East African Community and a potential member of the planned East African Federation.

Health

The under-five mortality rate in 2006 was 118 out of 1,000. Life expectancy at birth in 2006 was 50 years.[21] The 15-60 year old adult mortality rate in 2006 was 518 out of 1,000 males and 493 out of 1,000 females.[21]

The leading cause of death in children who survive the neonatal period is malaria.[22] For adults, it is HIV/AIDS.[22] Anti-retroviral treatment coverage for people with advanced HIV infection in 2006 was 14%.[21]

2006 data show that 55% of the population had sustainable access to improved drinking water sources and 33% had sustainable access to improved sanitation.[21]

Regions and districts

Regions of Tanzania.

Tanzania is divided into 26 regions (mkoa), twenty-one on the mainland and five in Zanzibar (three on Unguja, two on Pemba). Ninety-eight districts (wilaya), each with at least one council, have been created to further increase local authority; the councils are also known as local government authorities. Currently there are 114 councils operating in 99 districts; 22 are urban and 92 are rural. The 22 urban units are further classified as city councils (Dar es Salaam and Mwanza), municipal councils (Arusha, Dodoma, Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, Morogoro, Shinyanga, Tabora, and Tanga) or town councils (the remaining eleven communities).

Tanzania's regions are: Arusha · Dar es Salaam · Dodoma · Iringa · Kagera · Kigoma · Kilimanjaro · Lindi · Manyara · Mara · Mbeya · Morogoro · Mtwara · Mwanza · Pemba North · Pemba South · Pwani · Rukwa · Ruvuma · Shinyanga · Singida · Tabora · Tanga · Zanzibar Central/South · Zanzibar North · Zanzibar Urban/West

For regions ranked by total area, land area and water area, see List of Tanzanian regions by area.

Geography

Map of Tanzania
Landscape in Northern Tanzania, inside the Great Rift Valley.

At 945,087 km²,[23] Tanzania is the world's 31st-largest country (after Egypt). It is comparable in size to Nigeria.

Tanzania is mountainous in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro,[24] Africa's highest peak, is situated. To the north and west are the Great Lakes of Lake Victoria (Africa's largest lake) and Lake Tanganyika (Africa's deepest lake, known for its unique species of fish). Central Tanzania comprises a large plateau, with plains and arable land. The eastern shore is hot and humid, with the island of Zanzibar lying just offshore.

Tanzania contains many large and ecologically significant wildlife parks,[25] including the famous Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park[26] in the north, and Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park in the south. Gombe National Park in the west is known as the site of Dr. Jane Goodall's studies of chimpanzee behavior.

The government of Tanzania through its department of tourism has embarked on a campaign to promote the Kalambo water falls in southwest Tanzania's region of Rukwa as one of Tanzania's many tourist destinations.[27][28] The Kalambo Falls are the second highest in Africa and are located near the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika.

Climate

Tanzania has a tropical type of climate. In the highlands, temperatures range between 10˚C and 20˚C during cold and hot seasons respectively. The rest of the country has temperatures rarely falling lower than 20˚C. The hottest period extends between November and February (25˚C - 31˚C) while the coldest period occurs between May and August (15˚C - 20˚C).

Two rainfall regimes exist over Tanzania. One is unimodal (December - April) and the other is bimodal (October -December and March - May). The former is experienced in southern, south-west, central and western parts of the country, and the latter is found to the north and northern coast.

In the bimodal regime the March - May rains are referred to as the long rains or Masika, whereas the October - December rains are generally known as short rains or Vuli.

Environment

Tanzania has considerable wildlife habitat, including much of the Serengeti plain, where the white-bearded wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus mearnsi) and other bovids participate in a large-scale annual migration. Up to 250,000 wildebeest perish each year in the long and arduous movement to find forage in the dry season. Tanzania is also home to 130 amphibian and over 275 reptile species, many of them strictly endemic and included in the IUCN Red Lists of different countries.[29] Tanzania has developed a Biodiversity Action Plan to address species conservation. A recently discovered species of elephant shrew called Grey-Faced Sengi was filmed first time in 2005, and it was known to live in just two forests in the Udzungwa Mountains. In 2008, it was listed as "vulnerable" on the 2008 Red List of Threatened Species. Lake Natron is northern Tanzania is the largest breeding site for the threatened Lesser Flamingo, a huge community of which nest in the salt marshes of the lake.

Demographics

As of 2006, the estimated population is 38,329,000, with an estimated growth rate of 2%. Population distribution is extremely uneven, with density varying from 1 person per square kilometer (3/mi²) in arid regions to 51 per square kilometer (133/mi²) in the mainland's well-watered highlands, to 134 per square kilometer (347/mi²) on Zanzibar.[30] More than 80% of the population is rural. Dar es Salaam is the largest city and is the commercial capital; Dodoma, located in the center of Tanzania is the new capital and houses the Union's Parliament.

The African population consists of more than 120 ethnic groups, of which the Sukuma and Nyamwezi, the Hehe and Bena, the Gogo, the Haya, the Makonde, the Chagga and the Nyakyusa have more than 1 million members. Other groups include the Pare, Sambaa or Shambala and Ngoni. The majority of Tanzanians, including such large ethnic groups as the Sukuma and the Nyamwezi, have Bantu origins. Groups of Nilotic or related origin include the nomadic Maasai and the Luo, both of which are found in greater numbers in neighboring Kenya. The Sandawe and Hadza speak languages of the Khoisan family peculiar to the people of the Kalahari in southern Africa.[31]

The population also includes people of Arab, Indian, and Pakistani origin, and small European and Chinese communities.[32] As of 1994, the Asian community numbered 50,000 on the mainland and 4,000 on Zanzibar. An estimated 70,000 Arabs and 10,000 Europeans resided in Tanzania.[33] The Zanzibar Revolution of January 12, 1964 ended the local Arab dynasty. Thousands of Arabs and Indians in Zanzibar were massacred in riots, and thousands more were detained or fled the island.[34]

Religion

Mosque in Moshi
Church in Songea

Tanzania's population has been estimated to consist of roughly one-third each Muslims, Christians and followers of indigenous religious groups. The national census, however, has not asked for religious affiliation since 1967 as the religious balance is seen as a sensitive topic. Thus all figures on religious statistics for Tanzania are at best educated guesswork and differ widely on the question whether there are more Christians or Muslims. Most assume that the share of traditionalists has dwindled.[35]

The Christian population is mostly composed of Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and members of Jehovah's Witnesses. Among Protestants the strong numbers of Lutherans and Moravians point to the German past of the country, the numbers of Anglicans to the British history of Tanganyika. All of them have had some influence in varying degress from the Walokole movement (East African Revival) which has also been fertile ground for the spread of charismatic and Pentecostal groups.

Zanzibar is more than 99% Muslim.[36] On the mainland, Muslim communities are concentrated in coastal areas, with some large Muslim minorities also in inland urban areas especially and along the former caravan routes. Between 80 and 90 percent of the Muslim population is Sunni; the remainder consists of several Shi'a subgroups, mostly of Asian descent.[citation needed]

There are also active communities of other religious groups, primarily on the mainland, such as Buddhists, Hindus, and Baha'is.[37]

Languages

Tanzania has more than 126 ethnic groups and each ethnic group has its own language. No language is de jure official, but Swahili is the de facto national language, used for inter-ethnic communication and for official matters. After gaining independence, English, the language of colonial administration during the era of British rule, was still used for some official issues, and was thus considered de facto national alongside Swahili. Nowadays English is no longer used in the administration, in the parliament or in the government,[1] so it is no longer a de facto official language in the narrow sense. Hence Tanzania is one of the few African states in which a local language has gained importance to the disadvantage of the ex-colonial language. Since English is still the language of higher courts,[1] it can however be considered a de facto official language in the larger sense.

According to the official linguistic policy of Tanzania, as announced in 1984, Swahili is the language of the social and political sphere as well as primary and adult education, whereas English is the language of secondary education, universities, technology and higher courts.[1] Though the British government financially supports the use of English in Tanzania,[1] its usage in the Tanzanian society has diminished over the past decades: In the seventies Tanzanian university students used to speak English with each other, whereas now they almost exclusively use Swahili outside the classroom. Even in secondary school and university classes, where officially only English should be used, it is now quite common to use a mix of Swahili and English.

Other spoken languages are Indian languages, especially Gujarati, and Portuguese (both spoken by Mozambican blacks and Goans) and to a lesser extent French (from neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo). Historically German was widely spoken during that colonial period, but few remain alive who remember that time.

Culture

Makonde carvings.

The music of Tanzania stretches from traditional African music to the string-based taarab to a distinctive hip hop known as bongo flava. Famous taarab singers names are Abbasi Mzee, Culture Musical Club, Shakila of Black Star Musical Group.

Internationally known traditional artists are Bi Kidude, Hukwe Zawose and Tatu Nane.

Tanzania has its own distinct African rumba music where names of artists/groups like Tabora Jazz, Western Jazz Band, Morogoro Jazz, Volcano Jazz, Simba Wanyika,Remmy Ongala, Marijani Shaabani, Ndala Kasheba,[38] NUTA JAZZ, ATOMIC JAZZ, DDC Mlimani Park, Afro 70 & Patrick Balisidya,[39][40][41] Sunburst, Tatu Nane[42] and Orchestra Makassy must be mentioned in the history of Tanzanian music.

Tanzania has many writers. The list of writers' names includes well-known writers such as Godfrey Mwakikagile, Mohamed Said, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Prof. Julius Nyang'oro, Prof. Clement Ndulute, Prof. Frank Chiteji, Prof. Joseph Mbele,[43] Juma Volter Mwapachu, Prof. Issa Shivji, Jenerali Twaha Ulimwengu, Prof. Penina Mlama,[44] Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Adam Shafi, Dr. Malima M.P Bundala and Shaaban Robert.

Tanzania has remarkable position in art. Two styles became world known: Tingatinga and Makonde. Tingatinga are the popular African paintings painted with enamel paints on canvas. Usually the motives are animals and flowers in colourful and repetitive design. The style was started by Mr. Edward Saidi Tingatinga born in South Tanzania. Later he moved to Dar Es Salaam. Since his death in 1972 the Tingatinga style expanded both in Tanzania and worldwide. Makonde is both a tribe in Tanzania (and Mozambique) and a modern sculpture style. It is known for the high Ujamaas (Trees of Life) made of the hard and dark ebony tree. Tanzania is also a birthplace of one of the most famous African artists – George Lilanga.

MDUNDIKO- This is a form of dance which takes place during wedding ceremonies. A call out to nearby neighbouring streets inviting them to come and celebrate with the family and friends of the Bride and Groom. A group of men lead by A Drummer playing different types of musical instruments i.e. drums, trumpets and many other followed by a women, men and children dancing as they walk heading towards the house in which the wedding takes place. This will be followed by a big feast and celebrations.

Sports

Filbert Bayi and Suleiman Nyambui have won medals at the Olympic Games, both in the 1980 Summer Olympics. Tanzania competes in the Commonwealth Games as well as in the African Championships in Athletics.

Football is widely played all over the country with fans divided between two major clubs, Young African Sports Club (Yanga) and Simba sports club (Simba)

Basketball is also played but mainly in the army and schools. Tanzania is proud of having one NBA player (Hasheeem Thabeet) who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies. He is the first Tanzanian to play in the NBA league.

Rugby union in Tanzania is a minor but growing sport.

Media and communication

Television Zanzibar known as (TVZ) was the first colour TV station in Africa,The Daily News is the oldest newspaper and is state-run, as are the public broadcasting service television TVT, now Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC1) and radio networks of Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam RTD [now TBC Radio] and Sauti ya Tanzania Zanzibar (STZ). Since 2007 the state owned television station popularly referred in Swahili as Televisheni Ya Taifa TVT, now Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation TBC and Radio Tanzania Dar-es-Salaam RTD are now both under the umbrella of Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation. Tanzania also has many privately run media outlets, for example more than 20 daily newspapers, more than 20 television stations and more than 30 FM radio stations like Radio One, Radio Sibuka- Shinyanga, Radio Faraja -Shinyanga, Radio Times, Radio Saut-Mwanza,Radio Sauti ya Injili-Moshi,Living water FM-Mwanza, Radio Tumaini, Radio Sauti ya Quran, Magic FM, Praise Power Radio,Radio Mwangaza-dodoma,Kifimbo Fm-Dodoma, Radio Maria, Radio Upendo, Wapo Radio, Mlimani Radio, Clouds FM, Passion FM and Radio Free Africa. Some of the private radio stations and newspapers are owned by political parties like the Uhuru newspaper and the Radio Uhuru FM.[citation needed]

International shortwave radio broadcasts from the BBC Radio, Voice of America and Deutsche Welle can be received.[45] There are also numbers of internet users in Tanzania,most of Tanzanians use their free time to read and write blogs almost everyday.Internet communication is continuing increasingly daily and is the one of the growing communication in Tanzania.

Over the years the Tanzanian Media Industry has grown and has become much more free than before. There are now a number of media houses whose products are much popular than the state owned ones. Such media houses include Mwananchi Communications Ltd, IPP Media, and Habari Corporation etc.

Communities

There are many communities of Tanzanians who live abroad, most of these communities help to reunite all Tanzanians from different countries. These communities have played important roles to many countries where there are no Tanzanian representatives such as Greece, the Netherlands, and others.

The Tanzanians community of Greece can easily be reached from their website[46] and this is among the community which is in the front line to help Tanzanians who live in Greece.

Although it is a non-government organisation, it has helped many Tanzanias on an event of Force Majeure like deaths, passport processing, and others.

There are also communities in Italy, the US, Canada, Sweden, U.K, and others which play important roles in helping Tanznaians.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e J. A. Masebo & N. Nyangwine: Nadharia ya lugha Kiswahili 1. S. 126, ISBN 9987-676-09-X
  2. ^ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2009) (.PDF). World Population Prospects, Table A.1. 2008 revision. United Nations. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-12. 
  3. ^ a b c d "Tanzania". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=738&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=59&pr.y=10. Retrieved 2009-10-01. 
  4. ^ Tanzania. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tanzania (accessed: March 27, 2007). This approximates the Swahili pronunciation [tanzaˈni.a]. However, /tænˈzeɪniə/ is also heard in English.
  5. ^ http://www.tanzania.go.tz/profilef.html
  6. ^ a b "The World Factbook - Tanzania", CIA, 2006
  7. ^ The Tanzania National Website: Country Profile
  8. ^ a b Annabel Skinner. Tanzania & Zanzibar. p. 19. 
  9. ^ Phyllis Martin and Patrick O'Meara. Africa. 3rd edition. Indiana University Press, 1995.
  10. ^ Mark Horton and John Middleton, The Swahili: the social landscape of a mercantile society (Oxford, 2000); Derek Nurse and Thomas Spear, The Swahili (Philadelphia, 1985).
  11. ^ Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History
  12. ^ "Slavery (sociology)". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  13. ^ The East African slave trade. BBC World Service | The Story of Africa.
  14. ^ Annabel Skinner. Tanzania & Zanzibar. p. 17. 
  15. ^ Annabel Skinner. Tanzania & Zanzibar. p. 18. 
  16. ^ Anna Muganda (2004). "Tanzania’s Economic Reforms - and Lessons Learned". http://www.tanzaniagateway.org/docs/Tanzania_Country_Study_Full_Case.pdf. 
  17. ^ Songo Songo Gas-to-Electricity Project
  18. ^ "Tanzania's leader snubs new jet". BBC News. 2004-10-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3719712.stm. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
  19. ^ http://www.tic.co.tz/IPA_Information.asp?hdnGroupID=26&hdnLevelID=2
  20. ^ A new lodestar for Africa? - Opinion - International Herald Tribune>
  21. ^ a b c d World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/whosis/en/, 3 June 2009
  22. ^ a b Mortality Country Fact Sheet - United Republic of Tanzania
  23. ^ CIA - The World Factbook -- Rank Order - Area
  24. ^ Tanzania Tourist Board at tanzaniatouristboard.com
  25. ^ The official site of the Tanzania National Parks - Home at www.tanzaniaparks.com
  26. ^ Serengeti - The National Park's Official Site at www.serengeti.org
  27. ^ http://.www.tanzaniatouristboard.com
  28. ^ http://.www.mfaic.go.tz
  29. ^ E.Razzetti and Ch.A.Msuya.Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Arusha National Park (Tanzania)TANAPA*[1], 2002
  30. ^ Tanzania (12/07)
  31. ^ "Tanzania". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  32. ^ "'Michael Jackson' women in Tanzania search for Chinese husbands". The Times. October 13, 2009.
  33. ^ "Tanzania (08/09)". U.S. Department of State.
  34. ^ "Country Histories: Independence for Zanzibar". Empire's Children. Channel 4. 2007. http://channel4.empireschildren.co.uk/category/chapters/index.php?chapter=472&cat=3. Retrieved 2009-06-26. 
  35. ^ These sources give similar numbers for Muslims and Christians: These sources see a Muslim majority: Several estimates assume a Christian majority art least for the mainland:
  36. ^ The World Factbook - Tanzania
  37. ^ U.S. Department of State
  38. ^ Ndala Kasheba
  39. ^ Afro 70 & Patrick Balisidya - progg.se[dead link]
  40. ^ Afro 70 & Patrick Balisidya - East African Tube
  41. ^ Afro 70 & Patrick Balisidya - gepr.net
  42. ^ Tatu Nane - afromix.org
  43. ^ Prof. Joseph Mbele
  44. ^ Prof. Penina Mlama
  45. ^ "Country Profile: Tanzania". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1072330.stm. .
  46. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzanian_community_in_greece#History

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Translations: Tanzania
Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - Tanzania

Français (French)
n. - Tanzanie

Deutsch (German)
n. - Tansania

Português (Portuguese)
n. - Tanzânia

Español (Spanish)
n. - Tanzania

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
坦桑尼亚

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 坦尚尼亞

한국어 (Korean)
탄자니아 (아프리카 동부의 연합 공화국; 수도 Dar es Salaam)

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮טנזניה‬


 
 
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